Studying Kangaroo Farts and Teflon-Coated Frogs: Weird Science That Could Save Our Lives

Independent UK. Posted January 3, 2008.

Why study kangaroo farts?

Until recently, we may have thought that the most interesting things about kangaroos were their mean left hooks and, in the case of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, their ability to rescue lost children from the wilds of Australia.

But, thanks to research carried out in Queensland for the past four years, and released last month, the marsupial's cleverest trick is its ability to produce environmentally friendly farts. Researchers have isolated the bacteria in the stomach lining of kangaroos that means their farts contain no methane, a greenhouse gas far more damaging than carbon dioxide.

The team, led by Dr. Athol Klieve, believes that unlocking this secret could lead to the creation of more climate-friendly cattle. Between them, the flatulent farm animals produce so much methane that they account for 14 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, second only to power stations. But if the kangaroo bacteria were added to cattle feed, the researchers hope they could create herds with much lower carbon footprints.

Scientists already know that kangaroo stomachs are more than just green. Instead of methane, they produce acetate, a chemical that improves digestion. Feed laced with kangaroo bacteria could give rise to livestock that is not only greener, but also faster-growing and more fertile.

Methane-busting feed supplements could be available commercially in as little as three years, but some scientists point to a more direct solution – instead of slapping a hunk of beef or lamb on the barbie, why not kangaroo meat? This would help cap the marsupial population, which has reached plague proportions in parts of Australia, and connoisseurs say the meat is good. " It is also low in fat, high in protein and kangaroos are the ultimate free-range animal," says Peter Ampt of the University of New South Wales.

Why give frogs a Teflon coating?

You might expect frogs and Teflon to meet only in a French chef's frying pan. But in August, scientists at the University of Michigan revealed details of an experiment in which they created non-stick frog cells. Which, of course, raises the question: why?

Since the 1980s, scientists have been especially interested in frogs, among other animals, because their skin produces antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). These proteins are an incredibly useful way for the animals to fight infection -- AMPs are potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics. They are the immune system's first line of defense, combating microbes and viruses as they try to enter the body.

Scientists have tried to exploit these disease-fighting characteristics by putting AMPs in creams and other treatments used to fight infection in humans. But enzymes in the human skin stick to the AMPs, often rendering them useless, and increasing the concentration of AMPs often causes toxic side effects, such as killing red blood cells.

It was in an effort to combat this destructive stickiness that the scientists started to think about Teflon. Led by biological chemist Neil Marsh, the team considered what makes Teflon -- the plastic coating that stops your omelette sticking to the frying pan -- work so well.

"Teflon relies on a non-reactive fluorine coating to work," explains Marsh's colleague, Lindsey Gottler. "When we introduced fluorine to AMPs, we increased its stability, stopping them reacting with other proteins in the body."

Fortunately for frogs, none were required to create these non-stick AMPs. Marsh and his team used pexiganan, a synthetic copy of an AMP found in the Xenopus laevis frog. They then replaced certain amino acids in pexiganan with fluorinated alternatives, and called the new, non-stick peptide fluorogainin-1.

Marsh and his team hope the Teflon-tipped AMPs will help doctors to fight bacteria that are becoming increasingly resistant to conventional treatments. They could appear in improved creams designed to combat skin ulcers in diabetes patients, eye infections, or even the hospital bug MRSA.

What's the point of a glow-in-the-dark cat?

In 2006 in Taipei, scientists injected a protein taken from jellyfish into a pig embryo to create an eerie-looking luminous-green pig. This year, scientists in South Korea cloned a cat that glows red when exposed to ultraviolet light. Why this apparent obsession among the world's great scientists with phosphorescing animals?

In the case of the scientists who cloned three felines (white Turkish angoras, to be precise) in January and February last year, the aim was not to reduce night-time road accidents, but to develop treatments for genetic diseases in humans.

A team led by Kong Il-keun at Gyeongsang National University used a virus to modify the genes of a mother cat's skin cells, making them fluorescent. Kong then transplanted these cells into the cat's ova, which were in turn implanted into the womb of a donor cat.

But the glowing offspring of this test-tube tabby are no more useful to mankind than your auntie's moggy; the red glow is merely a marketing exercise designed to draw attention to the team's work.

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